Brazil: Current account surplus shrinks in May
Brazil’s current account balance came in at a surplus of USD 662 million in May, below the USD 900 million surplus recorded in the same month of 2018.
The result reflected a larger deficit in the services account, meanwhile soaring export growth pushed the trade balance up to USD 5.7 billion (May 2018: USD 5.5 billion). Foreign direct investment came in at USD 7.1 billion in May, over doubling May 2018’s USD 3.0 billion.
The 12-month trailing current account deficit widened slightly from USD 13.7 billion in April to USD 13.9 billion in May. The result is equal to approximately 0.8% of GDP.